Bill Brand - RIP

On February 8, while returning home from the 21st Amendment Brewery and Restaurant in San Francisco, Bay Area beer writer William Brand was struck by a train. He spent two weeks in critical conditions before passing away on February 20.

Bill Brand was among the first to chronicle the rise of West Coast craft brewing, inspiring the generation coming up behind him.

I never read Bill Brand's columns until he appeared on The Brewing Newtork. His humor and good cheer were infectious, and I became a faithful reader.

When you read an author for a long time, you begin to believe that you know that author, and believe that you have become friends. While I know it's not true, that Bill Brand had absolutely no clue I existed, and ours was an entirely one way relationship, I was saddened by his passing. To his friends and family, my condolences. I am going to miss him.